Satellite antenna radomes can trap moisture and heat, which may lead to the corrosion and overheating of the satellite antenna contained therein. A radome having two or more unobstructed vent openings can receive large volumes of ambient air to cool the antenna to the outside ambient temperature. However, this opening may also introduce rain and salt water, such as an aerosol, into the radome. The rain, salt water, and other condensation can produce mildew, corrosion, water accumulation, and other adverse conditions. On the other hand, a sealed radome enclosure can trap humidity, which may condense to its liquid form once the air temperature drops and thus produce the associated problems.
One known radome is a sealed enclosure with a heating element for continuously adding heat and therefore minimizing condensation. In this way, the heated enclosure decreases the variation in relative humidity, which may otherwise occur in an unheated sealed enclosure. However, this radome is power inefficient and furthermore is impractical in view of temporary out-of-use conditions that are commonly associated with maritime operations. Also, it is understood that the continuous production of heat can cause the antenna to overheat. This radome merely dissipates heat by radiation and conduction. The radome may be made of a composite (sandwich) construction to enhance stiffness and decrease radio frequency losses, which decreases thermal conductivity, making heat removal by conduction difficult (occurring largely through the base by conduction).
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide a dehumidifying radome vent that passively ventilates a radome and removes moisture without consuming power to do the same.